Kang Looking to Start off With a Bang

Over the last four years, Denis Kang has been considered one of the best middleweight mixed martial artists not in the UFC. The Vancouver, BC resident spent much of his career fighting in Japan and Korea before finally signing a deal with the UFC late last year. While Kang may be a new name to many American fans, he’s no stranger to the sport, having won more than 30 professional fights. The part Korean, part French 31 year old will finally make long awaited debut in the Octagon at UFC 93 against Alan Belcher. I recently had a chance to speak with Kang to get his thoughts on the upcoming bout and what he would do if he had the chance to fight the champion of his division, Anderson Silva.

TK: Thanks for speaking with me. First and foremost, how have you been preparing for your first UFC fight?

DK: Everything’s been good man. I’ve been in Montreal pretty much the whole time. I was already in shape from my last fight. So everything’s been kind of overlapping. I’m in even better shape than before. I’m peaking right on time for this one. I’m really happy with my preparation.

TK: You’re preparing to fight Alan Belcher. What are your thoughts on him as a fighter?

DK: He’s a good fighter. He’s a young kid. He’s tough. He’s cocky. He’s coming off a win over Ed Herman so he’s going to be confident. I expect nothing, but a good, exciting fight. I think this a really good fight for the fans. We’re both the kind guys that like to take the fight to our opponents and come out with some explosive stand up.

TK: You’ve spent much of your career fighting in a traditional ring. Are you concerned about transitioning your style to the cage?

DK: Not at all. You’ve got to remember I’ve fought in cages before. I’ve also spent a lot of time training in Montreal with Georges St. Pierre and we’ve been doing a lot of extra cage work so at this point, it’s not a factor at all.

TK: How excited are you to be making your UFC debut?

DK: It’s really cool man. The coolest thing about it is my friends and family can watch me fight live in real time. Normally, they had to watch me on the internet or a time delay, but this time everything’s live.

TK: You’ve been offered to fight in the UFC before, but you’d turned them down. What made you decide to finally sign a deal with them?

DK: The contract was better so it was a little bit more lucrative. I also just felt like the timing was right. You know I just said “screw this” I want to be in the UFC. I always had the desire to fight in the UFC, but at the time, it wasn’t the big dog. There were other organizations in Japan at the time that were considered higher. But right now, the UFC has surpassed them all and this is the right place for me to be.

TK: You went undefeated for more than three years before you suffered a couple losses. What was it like to rebound after those losses, especially after going on such a huge run?

DK: I’m not going to say it was easy, but it wasn’t the first time I’ve had to do it. I guess you could say I was accustomed to dealing with those kinds of things. It really boils down to just assessing what I’ve done wrong and what I’ve done right.

TK: You’re entering a UFC middleweight division that’s been ruled by Anderson Silva for a long time. How soon would you like a fight with him?

DK: I’d like to fight him as soon as possible, but I understand that I’ve got to prove myself. There are a lot of fighters in line before me so I’m just taking it one fight at a time for now. I’m just concentrating on this first fight and not on the next one.

TK: How would you approach a fight with him and what do you think it’d take for someone to finally crack him?

DK: A baseball bat. I’m just kidding. I don’t know yet.

TK: The card you’re fighting on is being headlined by Dan Henderson versus Rich Franklin and Mark Coleman versus Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. How do you see each fight going?

DK: I think Coleman and Shogun is a really cool fight. It’s like a PRIDE all star fight. You’ve got two former Grand Prix winners right there. I think Shogun is too young, too fast, too good for Coleman though. Coleman was awesome in his prime, but he’s well past prime unfortunately. I’m the biggest Coleman fan out there and I hope he does well, but it’s going to be a tough fight for him in my opinion. For Franklin and Henderson, I think it’s going to be whoever lands the first big shot. Both those guys are pretty heavy handed. I think Henderson has to get past Franklin’s reach and his southpaw style because that’s what throws people off. If he does get past that, then he could do it. Franklin’s got to use his reach, his awkwardness and his kicks to his advantage.